Sunday, June 15, 2008

I want to share my thoughts about this painting. For me it captures the feeling of life's dualities - energies that can be at odds but that are also interwoven with each other. Jennifer McNally, the arts writer at the Laurel of Asheville magazine likened it to bubblegum punk music, saying that there's confidence, brightness and surface, attitude and edge, but also darkness and chaos, a gritty underlayer.

As the painter, what do I see in it? There are smooth, organized shapes, crisp curves and bright colors in front, but the shapes cut out of this sunny yellow suggest bites, as if insect jaws have been at work. The view it reveals is troubling... black, rough bars, or trees, with bloody spatters and the murky gloom of twilight. But it is pretty - I love the contrast between the flatness and the grain of the brush strokes, the brightness of the yellow with the minor key of the blues behind. I love the smooth edges of the yellow shapes, and the flaws that show up as blips or hazy sections - the edges are as interesting as a pencil line. And I love the sense that there is another world presented beyond a barrier that separates us from it, like a garden fence. The barrier is clear, it connects to our space and has no hidden depths, but it is the boundary of another world beyond, a world that looks beautiful and whose rules are uncertain. It is visceral and slightly exciting. Dangerous perhaps.

Friday, June 13, 2008

That was a bit of a break! Woke early this morning and after going through a few hoops re-setting the password and all that (you know the routine -where DID I write all that info down??) I am keen to get this blog going. I am very excited about some new paintings I have been doing, too, so I'll try to get some pics of them on here.

I've also been busy organizing - a different brain function to the creative side...taking up a lot of space recently. Got an exhibition coming up next month, and have been getting publicity for that, getting it in some papers and magazines, and sorting out the invitations and... of course, what paintings will be hanging. And the wine for the opening, and the food, and stuff like that.

Also in the last month I have signed with an art consultancy firm who will represent my work to hotels and hotel chains around the world, as originals, or possibly prints. It appears to be high end mainly so don't think it means I'll see myself in Days Inn next time I'm staying in an obscure location off the I75, but would that be such a bad thing? I pondered that for a while but came to the conclusion that it would be ok.

Drawing (oven ring)

My websites/blogs

About Me

Growing up in a hot climate next a large oil refinery contrasted with later life in Scotland where winters brought early darkness and rain. Working as a production potter introduced small scale manufacturing and the commercial world. Then I obtained a BFA and MFA, graduating fully in 2000.
As an artist my interest in industry is exploratory and abstract, fueling current research.